Cal Democratic Convention: Winograd vs. Harman

Originally Posted on Dick & Sharon's LA Progressive, April 19, 2010
"Clearly the Party Leadership Circled the Wagons"
by Caitlin Frazier



To many attending the California Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles last weekend, the vote to approve or object to the endorsement of Rep. Jane Harman (CA/36), was too close to call – certainly not reflective of a frenzied convention tabulation Party Chair John Burton delivered with the qualifier, “No one was bribed.”After over a thousand votes were counted in just a few minutes, congressional challenger Marcy Winograd questioned the validity of the approximately 60-40% vote count to endorse Harman. Said Winograd, “I saw a sea of objections to Harman’s endorsement. I don’t know who had the majority of the floor, but I suspect the reported tally was way off. Delegations overlooked by the counters had to scream to get counted.”

To push the vote to the floor, a hundred Winograd for Congress supporters gathered at the convention Saturday night to collect nearly 500 delegate objections in four hours to Harman’s pre-endorsement by the local caucus, composed of mostly elected officials and their appointees.
On the floor of the convention, Party leadership tried to cut off debate, then had officers leave the stage to argue for Harman’s endorsement on the floor because Harman herself did not even show up. “Clearly the leadership was taken aback at the strength of our challenge and circled the wagons,” said Winograd.

In her speech, Winograd told fellow delegates, “Brothers and sisters, rank and file Democrats, this is a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Are we for jobs or wars, homes or big banks, our street or Wall Street? You have the power to change the course of history.”

With the endorsement process over, Winograd will concentrate on reaching the voters directly with her message of grassroots empowerment. “It is time to end the corporate stranglehold on Congress and usher in a new day for working families,” said Winograd.


Caitlin Frazier is Press Secretary for Marcy Winograd

Photo by Ralph Oden

Memorial Day: "Winter Soldier" Hearings

These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country
--Thomas Paine

Excerpts from KPFA broadcast of 2008

Clifton Hicks & Steven Casey: Testimonial

Luis Montalvan: Corporate Pillaging Testimonial and Bio

National Guard Sergeant Aaron Hughes: The Dehumanization of War

Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia: Increasing GI Resistance

Patty McCann: Testimonial and Bio

Jeffery Smith: Bio and Testimonial

* * *

Senator John Kerry: How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?

Gary Kamiya: Jeremiah Wright Isn't the Problem

Read Gary Kamiya's excellent essay posted on www.salon.com. It is one of the best I've read on the silly Jeremiah Wright "controversy." Kamiya raises the spectre of President John McCain. I have deleted my entire essay on this subject from the Green Commons Web Site and substituted Kamiya because I think this so important. Please note the powerful quote from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

Posted on Salon, Tuesday, March 25, 2008.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright Isn't the Problem

The hysteria over Obama's former pastor's attacks on America shows we're still in thrall to knee-jerk patriotism.

by Gary Kamiya

Maybe we really are doomed to elect John McCain, remain in Iraq forever and nuke Iran. Nations that forget history may not be doomed to repeat it, but those that never even recognize reality in the first place definitely are. Last week's ridiculous uproar over Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons proves yet again that America has still not come to terms with the most rudimentary facts about race, 9/11 -- or itself.

. . .

We are now five years into a war that may outrank Vietnam as the most pointless and disastrous one in our history. George W. Bush and his neoconservative brain trust conceived that war, but they were only able to push it through because the American people, their political leaders and the mainstream media signed off on it. And they did so because they were in the grip of the fearful, vengeful, patriotic frenzy that swept the nation after 9/11. Without 9/11 and America's fateful reaction to it, there would be no Iraq war. Every day that the war drags on is yet another indictment of that self-righteous, unthinking "patriotism."

. . .

In fact, the same all-American flag-wavers who called loudest for war against Iraq are now denouncing Wright as a hate-monger and a traitor, and attacking Michelle Obama for saying that only recently has she had reason to feel proud of her country. They insist that anyone who is not permanently proud of the United States, whose patriotism isn't plastered on his or her face like the frozen smile of a beauty queen waving from a Fourth of July float, is beyond the pale. Never mind that the glorious results of their debased version of patriotism -- 4,000 American troops dead, a wrecked Iraq, and a greatly trengthened terrorist enemy -- are plain for all to see.

. . .

URL: http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/03/25/rev_jeremiah_wright/

One Day in Iraq

The 5th anniversary of the start of Bush's Folly takes place this week. ABC News is giving this a fairly good treatment, but so far there is one aspect of the war that they have not covered; what might we be able to do with all of that money if the Iraq War had never happened.

Thanks to Santa Clara County Green, Andrea Dorey, for forwarding the link to the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) video of the many answers to that question. One Day = $720 Million

Now whether we would actually spend the money in that manner is a different discussion. I tend to doubt it. The alternatives offered by AFSC are just too forward looking and offer too little food for our need to have it all now appetite, whatever "it" is.

Kucinich left, who will keep the Dems in line?

When Dennis Kucinich dropped out of the Dem Presidential race, he left a lot of activists behind... come convinced that they should still vote for him just to show the rest of the Dems what was right.

I have left a comment at OpEd News in a discussion of Where Do All the Devoted Kucinich People Go Now? I suggested that Kuchinich join the Green Party. That's not likely, but maybe some of the "Devoted" may read that and think.

Still the issue is being discussed, recently on KPFK (LA). Last years Green Party Congressional Candidate, Daniel Brezenoff provided some insightful suggestions. I suggest that you listen to the online interview.

This time, it really is....

I find myself spending more time watching what the Green Party Candidates are doing, listening to what they say, reading their press releases. I spend too much time reading the sometimes brilliant writing, oft time petty pickering that takes place on internal email lists.

Some observations:
Progressive Greens may not even begin to have a finger on the pulse of what will motivate voters this year. The number 1 issue is coming as a surprise to many: Here is a list of issues that are NOT number One.

Iraq War: For all the duplicity of Cheney / Rumsfeld, this misguided, arrogant attempt at changing the nature of politics in the Middle East has failed in every way except militarily, and that was pretty much a shambles too.

Health Care: Any race with Hillary Clinton in it will always be, to some extent about Health Care and whether she can really get it right this time.

Immigration: The Republicans make sure that we hear a lot about this one. We even have Republican Tom Tancredo getting riled at Mike Huckabee because Huckabee has "stolen" the endorsement of the Minutemen.

The Tarrance Group released the bi-partisan Battleground Poll today and the conclusion is "This time, it really is the economy." Funny thing about that, this is exactly what Steve Loebs was saying in his post at Green Commons earlier this week.

BTW: Iraq War was #2,. Health Care #3 (Cost + Insurance + Medicare) , Immigration #4.

I believe that all our candidates need to start factoring in the effects of the credit crisis, the sub-prime loan scandal, and more importantly, what are the impacts of being a consumer driven economy. What are the ramifications of the fact that this country is "capital poor" and needs in a daily major influx of foreign capital just to sustain what we do. Such was the action today as a Chinese Government owned investment fund poured $5 Billion into Morgan-Stanley.

My real question is this: What is this party doing to talk to the number one issue on voters minds right. now? What message do we have? It is not even on the long range radar in most discussion. And we wonder why people are not listening. Maybe we need to ask our candidates to sign up for a seminar with Steve.

Manifest Conspiracy

When I opened my mail this morning, I was greeted with an email from a Green Party friend that is worth a comment. It was a teaser type introduction to a speculative commentary on the early days of the Iraq War.

Just who is this mystery man and why
has the traditional and alternative news
media given him such a pass?

Is it just a coincidence that he used to work
for Henry Kissinger?

The mystery man was Paul Bremer and the implication of the commentary is that this was all a major conspiracy to bleed this country dry while the captains of industry profited.

I believe this view to be flawed and possibly dangerous in that it does not address changing the real problems that we have as a country and which this party needs to address.

The answer to the question of whether it is "just a coincidence that he used to work for Henry Kissinger?" is a resounding "No." But that is no evidence of a conspiracy.

There is a long, mostly disastrous history of the idea of Manifest Destiny. It formed the intellectual rationale for the exploitation of the West, and went beyond that to provide theoretical justification for the imperialistic expansion of United States during the late 19th Century, some would say for the very fact that the United States of America has a history. The Wikipedia definition of Manifest Destiny makes clear this connection between our destiny and the ideal of Democracy.

Manifest Destiny is a 19th-century belief that the United States had a mission to expand, spreading its form of democracy and freedom.

Michael T. Lubragge, in an often cited essay on the subject, calls special attention to the religious sources of this idea and the connotations of religious language.

To some, the Manifest Destiny Doctrine was based on the idea that America had a divine providence. It had a future that was destined by God to expand its borders, with no limit to area or country. All the traveling and expansion were part of the spirit of Manifest Destiny, a belief that it was God's will that Americans spread over the entire continent, and to control and populate the country as they see fit. Many expansionists conceived God as having the power to sustain and guide human destiny. "It was white man's burden to conquer and christianize the land" (Demkin, Chapter 8). For example, the idea that the Puritan notion of establishing a "city on a hill" was eventually secularized into Manifest Destiny--a sort of materialistic, religious, utopian destiny.

Such language, such a vision was part and parcel of the rhetoric of Ronald Reagan, most clearly in his Farewell Speech.

I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.

The 19th Century world in which Manifest Destiny defined our goals, was one in which unlimited expansion was possible and the resources of this world were inexhaustible. This was a world in which America could define it's own future without any other consideration. Hopefully, George W. Bush will be our last 19th Century President.

It is against this rather naive world view that Henry Kissinger chose to make fundamental changes in the manner in which American foreign policy was acted out. However, rather than to define a new role for America, he chose to invoke the practices of another 19th Century concept, that of realpolitik. Peter van der Maas defines the foundations of this realpolitik as two ideas:

• First, "raison d'etat", where the interests of the state justify whatever means are necessary to pursue them. The national interest thus replaced the medieval notion of a universal morality that guided all men and nations.
• The second key concept is the balance of power an international order in which no nation is dominant. Each nation maintains its independence by aligning itself, or opposing, other nations according to its calculation of the imperatives of power

The number of direct Kissinger proteges (e.g. Rumsfeld supordinate Peter Rodman) or indirect ones (e.g. Condoleezza Rice) spread through the State Department, National Security Council and beltway think tank staffs, neo-conservative or pseudo-progressive, goes far beyond any need for a puppetmaster to be pulling the strings.

The real danger to this country's future comes from the shared world views that are prevalent in Washington. We lack an alternative vision of what this country could be. Maybe the Green Vision is Gaia.

The death of novelist Norman Mailer gave Charile Rose the excuse to put together a reprise of the best of the many interviews Rose had with Mailer. On January 29,2003 Mailer gave the most concise and accurate description of what has happened in Iraq that I have heard. This was several months before the invasion. Maybe it is his insight into the American psyche that made him so prescient and shows conspiracy theory of the Iraq war to be so wrong. (starting about 22 min. into the interview). "I am worried that we are starting something that we can't finish without changing the nature of American Democracy by the time we are done." It played out exactly in that way. We should have listened to Mailer.

The Agony of Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan, the world-famous, gold-star "antiwar mom" has left the Democratic Party and "resigned" from the Peace Movement. This is what The Empire does to its most noble women and men.

The Daily Kos
Monday, May 28, 2007.
"Good Riddance Attention Whore"
by Cindy Sheehan

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.

I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me.

The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a "tool" of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our "two-party" system?

Read More at: www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/28/12530/1525

PROPOSAL : GA RESOLUTION ON PEACE AND AMNESTY

Since I recently posted the Napa County Greens resolution on Amnesty for military personnel who view fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq as illegal and/or immoral, I not that there is already a new proposal which the sponsors are asking be added to the agenda on the floor of the upcoming General Assembly. I would guess that this proposal will have strong backing, especially given the ongoing Green Party opposition to the War in Iraq, otherwise known as Bush's Folly.

---

PROPOSAL : GA RESOLUTION ON PEACE AND AMNESTY

PRESENTERS

Laura Wells, (510)-986-0879, lwlaura@yahoo.com
Tim Smith, (707)-202-4507, rioryon@aol.com
Lowell Downey, (707)-257-1166, napagreens@aol.com



SUBJECT
A - Initiating a Peace Process in the Middle East
B - Amnesty for All Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The ongoing civil war in Iraq threatens to engulf the entire Middle East Region in a murderous conflagration, destructive of human life and of the surrounding natural environment...
Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of combatants and innocent bystanders have already lost their lives, or have been maimed, injured and traumatized, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Isreal, etc etc...
And general strife seriously threatens in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and throughout the whole region...
In fact, the whole world is threatened by the potential of a nuclear escalation of this conflict...
While there are groups seeking PEACE in this region, and among the combatant nations, those peace groups receive little recognition, support, or encouragement from the US Government...
While there are US Soldiers who refuse to fight in this conflict, they are hounded, persecuted and often forced to flee their homeland...


PROPOSAL

THE PEACE PROCESS

The California Green Party calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The California Green Party calls for the immediate withdrawal of ALL foreign combatants from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The California Green Party calls for the immediate commencement of a Middle East PEACE Process, encouraging ALL effected parties to enter into formal dialogue, with the ultimate goal of establishing a Just and lasting Peace, for all concerned.
The California Green Party calls for the Middle East PEACE Process to begin under the auspices of the United Nations and that it prominently include ALL Middle East Groups whose stated mission and goal is a Just and lasting Peace for all.

AMNESTY

The Green Party of California calls for immediate Amnesty for all soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. We demand that Congress address this important issue. This is not just a military issue. This is a human rights issue that involves us all.

Amnesty is the right thing do. Our elected leaders have ignored the facts and supported this war for years while our soldiers and Iraqi civilians have been and continue to be crippled and slaughtered. Our elected representatives bear responsibility for this war and it is up to them to begin the important step toward national healing by showing compassion to our soldiers and their families. One essential step is in giving amnesty to our soldiers that have refused to fight in this war.

Our soldiers have returned home maimed and psychologically scarred for life. The mistreatment by our government is criminal. One out of every three homeless is a veteran. Veterans and their families are harassed and financially crippled. Veteran families are victims at home while their husbands and wives and children are dying and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our leading military hospital has been disgraced for its treatment of soldiers.

Amnesty is about compassion. Amnesty is about healing a great wrong. Would we condemn soldiers if they refused to follow the orders to commit the horrific My Lai Massacre in Vietnam? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty if they chose to flee the military order? Would we condemn Nazi soldiers for refusing to follow orders to commit atrocities in labor camps? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty?

Quoting St. Augustine, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "An unjust law is no law at all." Are our soldiers who refuse to follow an unjust law and an unjust order guilty of a crime that will forever be on their records? Is it right that they and their families bear the shame of a dishonorable discharge, prison and humiliation? We cannot turn our heads on these brave Americans who have been ostracized and turned into criminals for standing up against deceitful political leaders.

There can be no conditions for amnesty. Our country needs to find a way back from the horror that this war has inflicted here at home. We have another generation of children who have grown up with this violence. We have another war generation to support. In ten years, we may look back and say that giving amnesty to our soldiers who refused to fight in the Iraq and Afghanistan War was the catalyst for healing. Amnesty is a way to restore faith in our democracy and our humanity.

In an address Martin Luther King, Jr. once spoke, 'the first question which the priest and the Levite asked was "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But the good Samaritan reversed the question, "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" We also ask, "What will happen to the children of our soldiers and our children if we do not grant amnesty and show compassion?"

TIMELINE

The GPCA-CC shall agendize this Proposal at the beginning of the General Assembly(GA), Saturday, May 26th.
If the GA delegates chose to pass this Proposal, the GPCA Media Committee and other GP Media officials (such as Beth Moore Haines, Cres Vellucci, Erika MacDonald, etc) shall be charged with calling a press conference, and issue press releases in concert with the GA's closing ceremonies, when the GPCA shall publicize its Resolution on PEACE and AMNESTY.


RESOURCES

The Necessary Media Contacts and Announcements

A Call for Amnesty

A Call for Amnesty for All Soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq War
After receiving the following from Llowel Downey, I asked for permission to post it in it's entirety. Permission was granted and here it is.

---

A Call for Amnesty for All Soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq War

The Napa County Green Party calls for an immediate Amnesty for all soldiers that have refused to fight in the Iraq War. Marin County Greens have also signed on to this issue. We demand that Congress debate this important issue. This is not just a military issue. This is a human rights issue that involves us all. We demand that this amnesty be given without conditions, including free of all charges on the soldier's record, no dishonorable discharge, return of full medical and education benefits, and the right to stay in the military, without punishment, should the soldier wish to remain.

Amnesty is the right thing do. This war was created with lies and deception. Our elected leaders have ignored the facts and supported this war for years while our soldiers and Iraqi civilians have been and continue to be crippled and slaughtered. Our elected representatives hold responsibility for this war and it is up to them to begin the important step toward national healing by showing compassion to our soldiers and their families. One essential step toward healing is to give amnesty to our soldiers that have refused to fight in this war.

Our soldiers have returned home maimed and psychologically scarred for life. The mistreatment by our government is criminal. Soldiers are not returning to a home with citizens protesting and condemning them. They are returning home and being disgraced by our government and military. One out of every three homeless is a veteran. Veterans and their families are harassed and financially crippled. Veteran families are victim at home while their husbands and wives and children are dying and wounded in Iraq. Our leading military hospital has been disgraced for its treatment of soldiers.

Our soldiers are in the business of handling adversity and disappointment. Handling shame by our government is not one of them. Amnesty is about compassion. Our soldiers who have been fighting an unjust war are deserving of this compassion. Our soldiers deserve amnesty and should not be punished for refusing to fight a war disguised as morally right but criminally wrong. Amnesty is about healing a great wrong suffered on us, and suffered on the world. Why should our soldiers be victim to this great tragedy?

Would we condemn the soldiers if they refused to follow the orders to commit the horrific My Lai Massacre in Vietnam? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty if they chose to flee the military order? Would we condemn Nazi soldiers who were committing atrocities in labor camps from refusing their orders? Would we not offer them compassion and amnesty?

Quoting St. Augustine, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "An unjust law is no law at all." Are our soldiers who refuse to follow an unjust law and an unjust order guilty of a crime that will forever be on their records? Is it right that they and their families bear the shame of a dishonorable discharge, prison and humiliation? We cannot turn our heads on these brave Americans who have been ostracized and turned into criminals for standing up against deceitful political leaders.

Our country needs healing. Not to give amnesty will be a great shame on the United States. The objection of the military must be overcome. This is one of the challenges of being the military of a democracy. Our soldiers are trained to follow orders. This will have to be one more order they will have to learn to live with. They will have to find the courage within themselves for compassion. There will be soldiers who say it is far greater challenge to stay on the front line and follow the orders. Yes, that is a difficult and terrible challenge. It is also a difficult challenge to go against your life's pursuit, that of a military officer, to go against an order, to threaten the well being of your family. It is a difficult challenge to stand up against your government and refuse the order to fight and kill when you know that the reason for doing so is morally corrupt and criminal. One challenge is not greater than the other.

There can be no conditions for amnesty. Our country needs to find a way back from the horror that this war has inflicted here at home. We have another generation of children who have grown up with this violence. We have another war generation to support. In ten years, we may look back and say that giving amnesty to our soldiers who refused to fight in the Iraq War was the catalyst for healing. We are a nation in grief. Amnesty is a way to restore faith in our democracy and our humanity.

In an address Martin Luther King, Jr. once spoke, ‘the first question which the priest and the Levite asked was “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the good Samaritan reversed the question, “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” We also ask, "What will happen to the children of our soldiers and our children if we do not grant amnesty and show compassion?"